“If they choose, but no one in the village is willing to do it. Jubaldar is an armed fortress, and what he demands of those workers comes close to slave labor. They’re afraid not only of Masenak, but also of Simon Davidow, the trainer who runs the stable and oversees the household.” He tilted his head as he thought about it. “There still might be a way around it. It appears that the stables have been losing personnel lately due to injuries. Yesterday one of the stable boys was sent back to the village with two broken legs, and there have been three other injuries in the past two weeks. When Davidow had the boy brought back to the village yesterday, it was with orders to the council to send immediate replacements if they want the present financial arrangements to continue.”

“They seem to be chewing those boys up and spitting them out,” she said bitterly. “The council might decide it’s better to have healthy citizens than continue to feed Masenak’s need for forced labor.”

Korgan shook his head. “According to Gilroy, they’ve gotten used to having that additional money in the community till. The council gets its percentage for being cooperative. I’m willing to bet they’ll scavenge and find some men to send to Jubaldar to make up the extra.” He paused. “Which will probably be better for us.”

“You mean we can follow them?”

“Yes, but we need to do more if you want Sasha to have someone there to protect her. We should have someone in the castle for her.”

She didn’t know if she liked where this was going. “Can you bribe one of the villagers who are already there?”

“Again, would you trust someone you didn’t know to protect her? Of course you wouldn’t.” He paused. “I promised you I’d find Sasha and take care of her. So it’s really my job.”

“No!” The rejection she felt at the idea of Korgan going to Jubaldar, even to make contact with Sasha, was immediate and violent. “You believe no one on the planet would recognize you while you were skulking around that castle?” she asked sarcastically. “It’s not as if you can go anywhere incognito. It would be suicide. And by now Masenak has to know you’re responsible for what happened to destroy the Szarnar camp. He’s going to want to draw and quarter you the minute he gets a chance.”